중앙데일리

Kospi falls as institutions go on selling spree

Korean stocks ended lower Wednesday as relief spurred by gains on Wall Street gave way to greater caution as the U.S. dollar hit a nine-month high against the Korean won.

The benchmark Kospi shed 7.81 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 2,290.11. Trade volume was slim at 4.83 trillion won ($4.27 billion).

The index moved higher in the morning, following U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s positive assessment of the economy and reports of solid earnings by some tech firms.

The upward movement was cut short when institutions became net sellers and dumped 263.3 billion won worth of stocks.

Retail investors bought a net 163.4 billion won and foreigners picked up a net 91.2 billion won, preventing the index from falling lower.

“With no certain market-moving events out there, the market is likely to show greater volatility for some time,” said Kim Yu-kyeom, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.

Shares related to the inter-Korean economic cooperation projects tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted Tuesday at taking a step back from his earlier call for immediate denuclearization of North Korea.

The secondary Kosdaq fell 9.28 points, or 1.13 percent, to 810.44. The tech-heavy index ended lower from large-scale foreign selling of pharmaceuticals and IT parts despite a 0.6 percent incline of the U.S. Nasdaq.

The Korean won closed at 1,132.30 won against the U.S. dollar, up 8.2 won from Tuesday’s close.